Introduction to Functions and Processes

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Introduction

Processes are internal affairs for the IT service provider. An organization that is still trying to gain control of its processes therefore has an internal focus. Organizations that focus on gaining control of their systems in order to provide services are still internally focused. The organization is not ready for an external focus until it controls its services and is able to vary them on request. This external focus is required to evolve into that desirable customer-focused organization.

Because organizations can be in different stages of maturity, IT managers require a broad orientation in their discipline Most organizations are now working on the introduction of a process-focused or customer-focused approach, or still have to start working on this. Process control is therefore a vital step on the road towards a mature customer-focused organization.

ITIL has made an important contribution to the organization of that process-focused operating method in the past decade. The development started in North-western Europe and has made some progress on most other continents in the last few years also. On a global scale, however, a minimal number of organizations have actually started with this approach - and an even smaller number have made serious progress at this point. The organization change projects that were thought to be necessary to convert to a process-focused organization were not all successful.

These findings lead us to conclude that the majority of organizations in this world require access to good information and best practices concerning the business processes of IT organizations. Fortunately, that information is abundant. The ITIL version 2 books provide comprehensive documentation on the most important processes, while ITIL version 3 adds even more information.

The process model is at least as important as the processes because processes must be deployed in the right relationships to achieve the desired effect of a process-focused approach. There are many different process models available. The experiences gained with these processes and process models in recent years have been documented comprehensively in books, magazines and white papers, and were presented at countless conventions.

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© 2007 itSMF International. Extracts are from the book, Foundations of IT Service Management Based on ITIL® V3, which is available from www.vanharen.net.